


You Do Understand

by SongOfTheBadWolf



Category: Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6266920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongOfTheBadWolf/pseuds/SongOfTheBadWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Narvin is all too aware that the Time War is approaching, and that everything is about to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Do Understand

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything that's just Gallific before, but I've wanted to, and I saw the prompt "You do understand that I don't want anyone else, right?" aaaaand here we are. This is set at some point after s6.

Narvin was certain of three things.

First of all, Gallifrey was on the verge of war. The Daleks were preparing for it, but the only information the Celestial Intervention Agency could gather indicated that this was _happening -_ and it wasn’t enough to discover how to stop them preemptively, or even how to slow down the inevitable. The other Temporal Powers were pulling away from diplomatic contact, no doubt influenced by Free-Time-style propaganda. Romana, of course, was convinced that the situation could be salvaged, but she didn’t know just how angry the Daleks were, and why. That was a burden Narvin was still terrified to share.

Secondly, once war _did_ break out, there would be no way to stop it from being waged both across the universe and across the eons of history. There were ways to limit access to the Vortex, but none would work on the Daleks for long. They’d have to be prepared to use all the worst weapons in the Omega Arsenal if Gallifrey was going to have a chance of making it out of this.

The third unavoidable truth of Narvin’s life was that he was irrevocably in love with a certain completely unavailable Time Lady.

This, of course, was incredibly inconvenient, given the imminent war.

“Coordinator?”

 _Oh no_.

He slowed his pace toward the CIA tower, glancing back with a nod as Romana’s voice echoed down the hallway behind him.

“Madam President,” he replied, careful to keep from showing his unease at the idea that whatever she needed to discuss couldn’t wait until their daily briefing of CIA business.

She fell into step beside him. “We have a problem,” she said, her voice low.

“...About?”

“The specifics will need to wait until we reach your office; I’d assume it’s properly shielded. I’ve received a… disturbing report. From Phaidon.”

Narvin frowned. “What--”

Romana shook her head. “Wait. I don’t want anyone to hear about this yet, until we can control how and if it becomes public knowledge.”

They reached the lift at the end of hall and continued to his office in silence, Narvin desperate to ask and certain it must somehow be the start of what he feared. As soon as the door closed and they were isolated from the rest of the capitol, he turned to Romana with the unspoken question hanging in the air between them.

Romana took a deep breath. “The Warpsmiths have been attacked.”

The news felt like something tangible, something heavy and inevitable.

“The Daleks?”

She nodded. “They were able to partially evacuate, but…”

“Phaidon’s gone.”

“Yes. The Daleks were testing new weapons, things we’ve never seen.” She hesitated, and walked toward the window, looking out over Gallifrey. “Narvin,” she said, voice quiet, and he stepped forward to stand beside her. “What you’ve been telling us - the Daleks, the war. We can’t avoid it now.”

He looked down and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t…”

“You were so sure, all along, that we had to prepare for this.”

“We had reports, hints that they were developing new technologies, a real army--”

“And I saw those reports - most of them, anyway. It wasn’t enough to create that kind of certainty, but all along, you’ve been pushing for us to focus on defending ourselves.”

“I was… worried. Overly so, I suppose it seemed to you,” he muttered, “but you learn to think like that, as part of the Celestial Intervention Agency. Predicting the timelines, expecting the worst - and, clearly, you all should have listened--”

“Oh, of course, you have to be right.” Romana’s voice was bitter.

His gaze snapped up to meet hers. “I don’t _want_ this war, Romana,” he said, words full of carefully contained anger.

She blinked, frozen with her mouth half-open, then sighed. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean…”

“...I know.”

A full microspan passed in silence, both Time Lords staring resolutely at the first sun beginning to sink below the horizon.

“Narvin--”

“Romana--”

They both stopped, and the corner of Romana’s mouth crooked up in a slight smile. “Look,” she said, “We can’t avoid it anymore. The Daleks are set on this war and we need to be as well. So--”

“So we need to reach out again to the other Temporal Powers. With the attack on the Warpsmiths, we might--”

“Narvin, shut up and let me finish.”

He complied, more out of shock than anything else.

“You’re right, and we’ll get to that in a minute, and I’ll make sure the High Council passes that bill about temporal weapons research today, and _yes_ , we need to decide who to tell about the attack, but before you say anything else about the Daleks or Gallifrey or this war, I’ve realized that we all might not have as much time left as we’d thought, and I don’t _care_ anymore if this is a stupid idea.”

Narvin was about to ask what she meant, but the words were cut off by Romana’s hands on his shoulders and her lips pressing against his. By the time his brain unfroze and he managed to process anything beyond _I think Romana just kissed me_ , she was already pulling back.

She suddenly looked uncertain, and Narvin realized that he hadn’t actually given _any_ indication of any kind of response. So, without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed _her_.

The kiss was brief, but she was warm and soft and he could feel her smile against his lips. When he drew back, he looked at her in astonishment. “You - that - we--”

Romana almost laughed. “You _do_ understand that I don’t want anyone else, right?”

Narvin was fairly certain he wasn’t going to be able to muster a satisfactory response, let alone a complete sentence, anytime soon.

She sighed. “Narvin, I have enough regrets in my life already, and I’m not about to let this become one of them.”

“There’s never anyone but you.” His voice was quiet and honest, and Narvin wasn’t sure what he _meant_ to say, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t _that_. It seemed to have the desired effect, at least, and her smile was bright as they both leaned in this time.

When they separated, the first sun had set, and Narvin realized he’d have given anything to see her looking at him the way she was. “Now,” Romana said softly, “now that we’ve figured that out. About the Warpsmiths…”

It might not have been noticeable to anyone else throughout the day - at least, Narvin hoped it wasn’t - but the space between them was warmer, as they moved through meetings and war councils and negotiations. Lingering touches, brief smiles. Familiar arguments, raised voices and disagreements but without animosity behind it. Just _them_ , the way they’d always been, but more - and it felt like nothing had ever been any different.

And in the back of Narvin’s mind his secret circled and fluttered and taunted him, and he wondered how long it would be before he had to tell her. He wondered if she would ever look at him that way after he did.


End file.
